It's not easy being a food innovator. There's no road map for reinventing an industry.

Thats why weve teamed up with ForceBrands: FoodForce | BevForce to celebrate failure in all its glory at Fail Friday (on a Wednesday). Join us to hear stories of failure & lessons learned from top food entrepreneurs.We will also have food from emerging brands Seek Food, Lavva, HavenRow, PetPlate, Bohana & drinks from Metabrew. And, as always, there will be lots of networking.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERSRita Hudetz, CEO, Hu Kitchen & ProductsRita M. Hudetz is a 2009 Yale FES/SOM Joint Degree Graduate. Rita was recently promoted to CEO of Hu Kitchen/Hu Products, a high quality/ultra unprocessed restaurant & CPG business located in NYC. She joined Hu Kitchen as Chief Commercial Officer of Hu Products in 2016, to drive expansion of their retail product line. Since 2016 she has expanded the products business nationally, launched an ecommerce platform, increased sales by 5x & introduced new products following Hu's "no weird ingredients" mantra.

Camilla Marcus, Founder, west~bournewest~bourne, is a healthy-minded caf & takeaway shop in SoHo founded by Camilla Marcus, an artist & cook at heart with a background in business development, law, & investing. Formerly the Director of Business Development for Union Square Hospitality Group, Camilla has also worked in real estate investing for Colony Capital & CIM Group. With west~bourne, she is now both the investor & the entrepreneur, committed to rethinking what it means to be a good neighbor through the lens of hospitality.

Renaldo Webb, Founder & CEO, PetPlateRenaldo Webb is Founder & Chief Product Officer at PetPlate. Inspired by his dog Winston, Renaldo founded PetPlate after deciding that he did not want to feed his dog anything less than real food. After making hundreds of batches of home-cooked dog food for Winston & his pup pals, Renaldo decided to launch a pet food brand that he could proudly call his own. Prior to PetPlate, Renaldo worked at LCatterton & McKinsey & Company as a lean manufacturing consultant, where he led operational turnarounds for public & private companies. He launched PetPlate as a nationwide subscription service in early 2017, following an appearance on the hit TV show Shark Tank.

Ravi Jolly, Co-Founder & President, I Heart KeenwahRavi Jolly, founded I Heart Keenwah, a brand that makes delicious, nutritious, plant-based food products using top quality quinoa. In doing so, he has made a mark on the world by making organic & Fair Trade quinoa accessible, introducing many to a health-supporting protein source & sourcing quinoa in a way that is equitable to farmers.

Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. We are an independent, founder-controlled company of 132 people working together in an old pencil factory in New York City. Over 10 million people, from every continent on earth, have backed a Kickstarter project from films, games, & music to art, design, & technology.

The Brooklyn Brewery is made up of a rich collection of characters from all over the world. In our Williamsburg home, these characters are dedicated to brewing & selling great beer & enriching the communities we serve. Together, these Brooklyners have assembled the skills needed to transform a home brewing hobby into an independent brewery with a brand that has become an international beacon for good beer.